A natural part of life: the Australian sugar industry's campaign to reverse declining Australian sugar consumption, 1980-1995

Abstract

Apparent annual sugar consumption of sugar by Australians hovered around 55 kilograms per capita for the period 1900-1980. Such high levels of sugar consumption made Australians amongst the world's top ten consumers of sugar. In the early 1980s, apparent annual sugar consumption began falling, as sugar was portrayed by health professionals as 'white and deadly'. To combat's sugar's negative image, the Queensland Sugar Board, with support from CSR Ltd and Millaquin Sugar Company Pty Ltd, mounted an expensive television and print media advertising campaign during the 1980s to reverse the decline in sugar consumption. The campaign revolved around the slogan 'sugar is a natural part of life'. Despite spending $20 million on the campaign, it failed to achieve its goal of reversing the decline in apparent Australian sugar consumption.